Anna woke up one night earlier than usual, came into our room, and declared, “Mama, I had a nightmare.” Curiously, I asked her to tell me about it… “Mama, I was eating a chocolate chip cookie!” she said with the most serious look on her face. I said, “ooo, wow, that IS a nightmare.” She replied, “I know…..” in the most concerned manner.
She is hilarious. I think my daughter is the only one in the world who thinks that eating chocolate chip cookies are a nightmare! She likes cookies, but always reminds us, “with no chocolate chips!”
On a different note, school has been going great for Anna. Many challenges, but with the teacher’s support, it has been going well. I did have to purchase a special desk and chair to put into her classroom, so she ends up being a bit above the other classmates in height, but this gives her better posture and hence, better control in fine motor. In regards to school support, I would also like to mention the Down Syndrome Connect of the Bay Area. They are such an amazing organization and I have learned about my daughter from them than I have ever learned in all my years of schooling! I have learned to help my daughter with speech articulation through talk tools, I have taught my daughter to read through special reads program, and have learned countless number of other ways to help her live up to her full potential. I am thankful to the DSCBA for these opportunities. There is much comfort in knowing that there is someone there to hear my concerns and to help support or direct me through any problem I may encounter. Whenever I have a question, I start with them first and they never disappoint. Just recently, the education coordinator from this organization came to my daughter’s school to do an Ability Awareness presentation. She gave a personalized presentation about Anna including pictures and explained in an age-appropriate, engaging way, some of the challenges we see in individuals with Down Syndrome while highlighting unique strengths and qualities of my daughter. In addition, she went on to teach and encourage the children in her class and school on how they could be a good/better friend to Anna and how the teachers’ could also support her learning. Afterwards, the teachers told me that they learned so much about Down Syndrome, putting into perspective some of Anna’s behaviors, and they were very touched by the presentation. I am thankful for the hard work and dedication of those who work there and those who support the DSCBA and I hope this will be a great resource for our parents. With school being full day, it has become harder to do her talk tools therapy consistently, but we do our best to fit it in somehow because I do understand the importance and see benefits in my daughter’s speech using TalkTools®. I have included one of the exercises we have been doing with her. Her “L”s are significantly improving- we’ve worked hard on them!